The present invention relates generally to an electrical connector and, more particularly, to an electrical connector contact retention assembly for a front insertion-front release socket contact.
Both front and rear release contact retention assemblies have been utilized in the electrical connector art. A typical rear release arrangement using a metal clip having forwardly and inwardly extending retention fingers thereon is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,158,424. An annular clearance space is provided between the rear of the contact and the wall of the contact passage to allow a tool to be inserted into the space around the contact from the rear of the connector insulator in order to release the contact retention fingers, allowing the contact to the removed rearwardly from the insulator. A similar rear release contact retention assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,165,369 which discloses contact retention fingers which are molded integrally with the insulator, rather than being formed on a separate metal contact retention clip. A front insertion, front release contact retention arrangement utilizing a retention clip similar to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,158,424 is shown in French Pat. No. 2,240,600. In this case the clearance space which is required for insertion of a contact release tool is formed around the forward portion of the contact body, rather than the rear thereof as in the contact retention assemblies discussed previously herein. U.S. Pat. No. 3,838,382 discloses a rear release retention assembly for a tuning fork-type contact having a stamped body section with a rectangular opening formed therein. The passage in the insulator which receives the contact is formed with a pair of integral laterally resilient retention elements on opposite sides thereof. These elements are spread apart when the contact is inserted into the passage and contract into the opening in the contact when the later is aligned therewith to secure the contact in the passage. An extraction tool is inserted through the rear of the insulator around the outside of the rear termination portion of the contact to spread the retention elements apart, thus allowing the contact to be removed rearwardly from the passage.
In each of the arrangements discussed above, it is necessary that a clearance space be provided around either the forward or rear portion of the contact in the insulator to allow an extraction tool to be inserted into the contact passage to release contact retention fingers therein. Because such a clearance space is required around part of the contact body, the length of the contact within the contact passage must be relatively long in order to maintain the position of the contact radially. Otherwise, the contact may not have sufficient radial support to provide a stable mounting of the contact in the passage. Unstable contact mounting can result in failure of the contacts in the mating halves of the connector to properly slidably engage with each other.
Thus, what is desired and constitutes an object of the present invention is a contact retention assembly in which a clearance space for an extraction tool around the outside of the contact body is not required so that stability of the contact may be maintained with a relatively short contact length in the contact passage.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,775 discloses a contact retention arrangement for an electrical connector in which the contact extraction tool is inserted through the front of a hollow contact body rather than into a clearance space surrounding the contact. In this arrangement, the contact is formed of sheet metal and rolled into cylindrical form. The contact retention finger is stamped from one side of the cylindrical contact body and bent inwardly so that the end projects outwardly through an opening in the opposite side of the contact body. The end of the finger engages a forwardly facing shoulder in the contact passage to restrict rearward movement of the contact in the passage. When the tool is inserted through the forward end of the contact, the tip of the tool will engage the finger to deflect it inwardly, removing the end of the finger from the shoulder so that the contact may be removed rearwardly from the contact passage. A similar contact retention assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,961 except that the contact extraction tool is inserted from the front of the insulator into a clearance space defined between the outer surface of the contact body and the wall of the contact passage. In each of these latter patents the contacts are inserted and removed from the rear of the connector insulator.
It is another object of the invention to provide a contact retention assembly wherein a contact may be inserted and removed from the connector insulator from the front, rather than the rear, yet without requiring a clearance space between the contact body and the wall of the contact passage for receiving an extraction tool, thus permitting stable mounting of the contact in the passage with a relatively short contact length therein.